TTIP
Benefit for all or the privileged few?
Estelle BRENTNALL - Food, Drink & Tobacco Political Secretary at EFFAT
The context: labour fragmentation
Sammenhengen: fragmentering av arbeidsmarkedet
• Complexity and cross border character of the food chain
• Rapid changes in the labour market: employment flexibility and
fragmentation of work
• Increase of the risk of social fraud: i.e. circumvention of labour and social
security laws and regulations
October 2015
REFIT “smart regulering” and TTIP – different pillars of the
same anti-social agenda
• The Commission has released its Better regulation package in May. EFFAT is
particularly concerned over the potential dismantling of social, environmental and
consumer protection standards.
 REFIT programmet betyr at arbeids og miljøstandarder kan bli senket og satt i spill
• Through the REFIT program included in the package, the Commission is likely to
jeopardize fundamental social achievements.
 Fagbevegelsen mobiliserte til omkamp om REFIT under kampanjen RethinkRefit for å
synliggjøre konsekvensene av daværende EU- kommisjons holdning til
arbeidstakersiden.
October 2015
Contentious issues of agricultural market access
What the EC is telling us
• Always look on the bright side of life - TTIP a unique opportunity
• No lowering of standards
• No negotiations over GMOs, hormone-treated beef, additives
(ractopamine)
• No full trade liberalisation
• Full protection of Geographical Indications
 Ingen full handelsliberalisering, ingen forhandling om GMO,
veksthormoner, ractopamin
October 2015
A free trade agreement gone too far perhaps?
• Is the growth promised by the TTIP, a modest 0.5% of GDP in the EU, a
credible argument in the context of high unemployment?
• Is a negotiation with a strong and united America, really a negotiation of
equals?
• Is upwards harmonisation or mutual recognition of standards between the
U.S. and EU possible?
 Er dette forhandlinger mellom likestillende parter?
 Store kollektiv forskjeller (føre-var-prinsippet mot “rettsaker etter
skade” til eksempel)
October 2015
Calling for new patterns of trade
handlingsalternativ
• Link trade with climate change/sustainable development
• Current Council’s directives for the negotiation on the TTIP between the
EU and the USA are inadequate
• Urgent to pursue an upward alignment of workers’ rights and
environmental protection standards
 høye standarder- til blant annet sosiale rettigheter, helse, miljø og
matvarer må kunne beholdes
October 2015
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
TUSEN TAKK!
Estelle Brentnall
[email protected]